Ontario energy minister urges need for province ‘to stay on course’

Ontario’s energy minister borrowed a page from the Conservative’s election manual Tuesday, warning of the “fragile state” of the provincial economy ahead of its October election.

“We’re just coming out of this economic recovery,” Brad Duguid said. “Now’s the time to keep working hard, to keep creating those jobs, not back away.”

[start_gallery][end_gallery]Ontario Minister of Energy Brad Duguid.

The Liberal minister was speaking as a guest on a webinar series launched by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, which will interview members from all four major parties in August about their visions for renewable energy and conservation.

The OSEA is a non-profit organization that represents 200 organizations and individuals engaged in the renewable energy sector.

Duguid told OSEA executive director Kris Stevens that, if re-elected, the Liberals would focus on creating investment confidence, and working with the green energy sector to create more jobs.

So far, he said, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s vision has created a “very exciting” clean energy economy that has translated into 20,000 jobs, with 50,000 expected by the end of 2012.

“What we’ve done in this province is absolutely extraordinary, and it’s probably unprecedented.”

The Scarborough Centre MPP warned neither the Progressive Conservatives nor the New Democrats would continue to support the province’s clean energy policies and programs.

“It could put us back into a recession,” he said. “Now is not the time to tear down these programs.”

Duguid also addressed the controversial topic of nuclear energy, which makes up 50 per cent of the power Ontario uses.

The minister described 50 per cent as “the sweet spot” and said there are no plans to change that percentage. He pledged that the Liberals will manage nuclear energy in a cost-effective and responsible way – and questioned whether the opposition parties would do the same thing.

When Stevens asked about the biggest challenges facing the province in the next two years, the minister jumped at one more chance to deliver a warning to Ontario voters.

“Let me be forward, because I have to be,” he said. “The biggest risk is both opposition parties don’t want to stay on the same track we’re on.”

“We have to stay on course. We have to stay on track,” he added.

Tuesday’s interview with the minister was the first one in the series. On Thursday, NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns sits down with association. The Ontario PCs have yet to set a date for their critic to appear.